Synthetic Oil-How many miles does it last?

Status
Not open for further replies.
welcome.gif

It all depends.
Tell us more about your car and driving conditions:
percentage of freeway/city,
how many miles per year,
how hard you tend to drive,
the condition of the engine.
 
The car has 66,000 miles on it. I'll admit I take advantage of the turbo once in a while for fun and accelerate fast at times. It's probably 50/50 for city/freeway miles. I drive 15000 miles a year. At one time the engine sounded like the old bugs did but what that meant I don't know. I was using synthetic back then too!
 
I'd run Mobil 1 0W-40 at 5000 mile intervals

or, Redline 5W-40 and a good filter at 7500 mile intervals ...or every 6 months

You could also look at Amsoil 5W-40 European Car formula and a good oil filter at 7500 mile intervals ...or every 6 months

And there are quite a few fans [fanatics ] here who like the German made version of Castrol Syntec 0W-30

I'd also use Chevron Techron, Valvoline Synpower Complete Fuel System Cleaner, or Redline SL-1 to clean the injectors.

If you want to try some of the additives that the people here at BITOG think are NOT snake oil...

Then read about Auto-RX to really clean the engine, or Lube Control LC20 for the oil and FP60 for the fuel.

And Valvoline Synpower Oil Treatment [ VSOT ] is also worth a look for extra anti wear additives..especially with the Mobil 1 0W-40
 
I would use GC (German Castrol).
Fanatics or not, check it out in the GC specific forum called GC & Euro/Import oils.
You can still find the very praised Green GC at the local San Diego area AutoZones. It costs $4.99 and often goes on sale at $4.39.
The best deal in town IMHO as it conforms to the latest VW, BMW and MB specs and performs admirably in the used oil analysis (UOA).
This is what I would actually recommend.
Run it for 6-7.5 K miles and then send a sample out to one of the labs (~$30) for an oil analysis to see how it performs.
Only then you'll have some idea on how the specific oil performs in your specific engine under your specific driving conditions plus you'll get some data on presence of antifreeze, water and amount of insolubles.
If it's fine in the analysis, then you can run it longer. And then take it from there.

[ September 12, 2005, 01:42 AM: Message edited by: vad ]
 
I'd be more inclined to run Mobil 1 0W-40 for at least 7500 miles. IMO a synthetic's capabilities are wasted at 5000 miles or less.
 
You are going to have some very hot spots in your oiling system, with that turbo [even though the temp gauge may read normal].
That means use synthetic oil, to me.
I can't see less than 5,000 miles, though.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Thatwouldbegreat:

You could also look at Amsoil 5W-40 European Car formula and a good oil filter at 7500 mile intervals ...or every 6 months


My opinion you shouldn't have much trouble running the Amsoil 5w40 for 15K or 1 year.
 
First and foremost, it is dependent upon how YOU drive and use your car. Its hard to gauge how hard one drives, as one man's jackrabbit start is another's easy off the line... People who drive AT cars tend to have a larger disconnect from reality of how hard the engine is being used... So...

In reality the best answer is that you can theoretically take it very long and far, but you need to determine your interval lengeth via used oil analysis to be really sure.

For a nominal fee, you can send a sample, get the results, and have an expert (Terry) analyze the results for you, to fine-tune how far you canb stretch it.

In my and others' late-model saab turbo engines (very modern design and a little more power-dense than a typical 1.8T), M1 0w-40 has done really well - very impressive. Not always the same results for others though... I will say though, that my roomate has a later GTI with the 1.8T,a nd M1 0w-40 has done really well at 5000-6000 mi OCIs.

Using additives such as LC and FP, will reduce oxidation (oxidation and additive package depletion are reallly what makes a syn oil unusable - not oil breakdown, typically), and reduce insolubles, overall reducing wear and improving oil protection, so you can take your intervals out farther.

Hope this helps,

JMH
 
I've been running 10,000 mile oil/filter change intervals in a hard driven Audi TT roadster, with the 225 Hp version of this engine. Any of the Amsoil VW 502.00 rated formulations should easily last for 10k-12k or one year in this application.

FWIW, the new Amsoil recommendations allow for 15k/1 year service intervals in STOCK turbo engines, with a filter change and topoff halfway through. That seems reasonable, based on my oil analysis results over the past three years.

Tooslick
 
10K with Amsoil full synthetic (vis your choice in San Diego). I've been doing 10K mile intervals for years on my 260,000 mile Volvo turbo. The oil is well worn at this point but still useable.....the car goes like a raped ape and burns nor leaks no oil

The XL line will be OK for 7500 miles.
 
German engines, and Volvo's show low wear on any oil. I wouldn't say you can run 10k or 15k on a turbo. I'd use oil analysis. I think that is a mistake. What is ok for one engine, doens't make it ok for others. However, in your VW, 10k should be fine on any good synthetic.
 
buster - I agree on the UOA, just to assure the engine is doing ok. Your second and last sentences sorta contradict each other....I think you meant "any turbo" in the 2nd sentence.

As for mistake - I have seen enough data over the years that any of the Amsoil synthetic oils could go 10K in a any turbo in good working order - hence again the argument FOR UOA!
lol.gif
cheers.gif
cool.gif
 
Use an oil that has the VW spec 503.01. That is the long life spec for high horse turbo motors and Audi does 10k oci's with this oil. The two oils that I know of that meet this spec are German Castrol 0w-30 and Mobil-1 0w-40.
 
quote:

Originally posted by buster:
German engines, and Volvo's show low wear on any oil. I wouldn't say you can run 10k or 15k on a turbo. I'd use oil analysis. I think that is a mistake. What is ok for one engine, doens't make it ok for others. However, in your VW, 10k should be fine on any good synthetic.

You tell that ONE to my 87 Volvo turbo.
The oil is trashed by 5000 miles. Dino or synthetic the oil analysis showed the TBN was pretty much gone. I'm using M1 10W30 and my driving is mostly all city driving. I drive 3 miles to and from work with the speed never going above 35 mph.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Leo:
I'd be more inclined to run Mobil 1 0W-40 for at least 7500 miles. IMO a synthetic's capabilities are wasted at 5000 miles or less.

Not for the 1st OCI. Mobil recommends a shortened OCI initially. Using synthetics with a turbo is a wise choice.... especially those living in the South.
 
The only way to tell how long your oil will last is by a used oil anaylsis at the max oil change intervals suggested by the manufacturer. That is how the big boys in industry do it. Other than that study the used oil anaylsis section it is a good resource .
 
quote:

The oil is trashed by 5000 mile

My bad, but that was my point....you can't just assume ANY turbo you can go to 15k miles. Thats a ridiculous and foolish assumption.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top